362 POLO 



In the first moon of the fourth year of the ' period Zhiuki 

 (A.D. 727) the nobles and courtiers had assembled in the fields ot 

 Kasuga, and were diverting themselves with a game of polo, when 

 the sky was suddenly overcast and the rain poured down amid 

 thunder and lightning, while the palace was left without guards and 

 attendants. Thereupon the Mikado issued an edict confining the 

 offenders to the guardhouse under strict prohibition of leaving its 

 gates. 



Then follows an ode composed evidently by one of the 

 soldiery, labouring under a feeling of disappointment and 

 vexation at being thus 'gated.' One verse appears to allude 

 to the keenness with which the writer and his comrades looked 

 forward to the game. It is perhaps worth quoting. 



All the court for this entrancing 

 Hour had yearned oh ! might it never end. 



Then upon our chargers prancing, 



Gaily side by side advancing, 

 Through the fields our course we longed to bend. 



Known by the name dakiu, literally ' strike the ball,' the 

 game which found its way into Japan from China in the sixth 

 century, according to antiquarians, still flourishes in the former 

 country, and though some years ago, during the troublous times 

 that accompanied the extinction of the feudal system, it lan- 

 guished and nearly died out, yet it has of late years been 

 revived with great activity in all parts of the empire. The 

 following account descriptive of the game appeared in the 

 ' Times ' a short time ago from the pen of a correspondent at 

 Tokio : 



The arena is aflat grassed rectangle, 216 ft. long and 60 ft. 

 wide, enclosed by railings, or, better, by low banks 3 ft. or 4 ft. 

 high. At the far or goal end beneath an arch of evergreens is a 

 wooden barrier or screen, 8 ft. high, 12 ft. wide, and draped with 

 flags ; and in the middle of this screen, at a height of 5 ft. from the 

 ground, is a circular hole, 1-2 ft. in diameter, which opens into a 

 bag-net, falling into a basket behind the screen. Right and left 

 of the screen are stretched two horizontal wires, each carrying a 



